Sunday, September 16, 2012

R.I.P. Covered

Hi everybody. I've decided that after posting over 1000 covers on Covered it is time to put it to rest. There are a few reasons for this. One is that submissions are down quite a bit since the blog's heyday when I could get 10 -15 a week. The other is that although Covered didn't take a ton of time to set up, it was time that I could be using to do my own comics. Since I'm trying to get a graphic novel finished while working a day job, it's very valuable time to for me.

There were times that I would be sent multiple covers from one artist and I would schedule these to post months in advance. Since I still have some of these to post, I've decided to have Covered go out with a bang. For the next week or so, I'm going to post two covers a day until I run out.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all of the artists who sent covers to this blog. 1,000 covers is a lot and there are a lot of great artists who have been featured here. Running this, I've had the pleasure to discover strong new talents as well as getting to work with some of my heroes. It's been a wonderful experience. I'd also like to thank those who would visit and leave the occasional comment. Sadly, nobody got paid doing this, it was a labor of love for all involved. Feedback was all that the artists were going to receive for hours of work. The blog will stay up, so if you see something you love, leave a comment and let them know.

Rob, congrats on a fascinating project. So glad that I got to contribute not just once, but several times... I know there are many, many other creators out there who wanted to do something for this blog and will be sad that they won't get the chance.

Thank you to all the great artists who contributed over the years, and also to the creators whose originals provided so much inspiration.

Rob, congratulations on a great run... Good luck with your own projects, we are all looking forward to them!

This makes me sad! Covered was without a doubt one of my favorite blogs of all time, but it's good to hear that you're going to have more time to work on the things that are important to you. Good luck getting that graphic novel knocked out!

Truly a GREAT blog and I'm sorry to see it go. I'm happy to have contributed on several occasions and while I wish it were continuing I hope your personal endeavors are as fruitful as this blog was fun to visit.

Thank you so much for posting all these great covers. (and the not so great ones, too) I'm really grateful that I got to see each and every one of them. I look forward to more of your comics and illustration work, so if this is the thing that has to go, so be it.

This blog has, i think(?), spawned/inspired many other blogs with a similar premise but this was to my mind the 'original and best' and i enjoyed viewing and contributing, afterall- the best thing about comics is the covers!(!)Cheers Rob and good luck with the book.

But... But... I still had **SO MANY** other covers I wanted to do... *sniff*

Seriously, **THANK YOU**, Robert, for allowing me to a part of your blog. It was always a boost--both in terms of my ego and hits on my blog--to have it displayed on your site. The fact that my work may have theoretically been seen by such luminaries as Joe Jusko (JOE FREAKIN' JUSKO!) and many other people who's work I respect, fills me with both profound joy and more than a little bit of terror, as well. I'm sure you know the feeling.

For that, I can never thank you enough! GOOD LUCK, Robert! I hope to see you in the funny papers! :-)

How about a Covered book collection? Take the best of the 1000 covers you have published and make a pretty art book out of it. Seems like a natural to me. I'd buy it (even though I've seen them all already!).

This is hearbreaking, COVERED was a daily destination for me. I loved coming here and seeing new and interesting art, some of it absolutely amazing and mind-blowing. It was also an absolute joy and pleasure to be able to participate. I will miss this. I can only hope that someone picks up the ball and runs with it in their style in the near future.

I will miss the COVERED blog. It's the first thing I would look at when I arrived at work. I still have a pile of 10 sketched out "covereds" that will probably never see the light of day (sorry Spidey Super Stories #31). This blog got my juices flowing and introduced me to the work of so many wonderful artists and fantastic blogs. I'll never forget the day Rob and I were leaving a rinky-dink L.A. comic-con, flush with quarter and dollar comics from the 70's. Rob was looking at a Steve Ditko horror comic cover and saying that he really wanted to redraw it in his style. A month or two later the COVERED blog was born. Rob never did redo that Ditko cover, but he sparked a creative fire with his very first post (of Wonder Woman marrying a monster). Thank you, pal.

The blog was a permanent source of inspiration and good work, thanks you for the time you put into this Rob. It was a lot fo fun to follow, and I'll come back fomr time to time to check on some great work featured here!

First I thought RIP from Thomas Ott was covered. And yeah I would like to see that. Sadly this isn't the case. I'll keep on passing by here just like I do some online necrotourism by visiting Frederik Peeters's blog http://portraitsaslivingdeads.blogspot.be and I'm happy to contemplate one of Richard Sala's covers for your project! http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=646094&GSub=99617 Thanks for this blog and good luck with your graphic novel!

I'm sad to see this blog end. I feel fortunate to have contributed a couple of covers, and always enjoyed the feedback. This was part of my daily rotation of sites. Always always good stuff! Best wishes on your graphic novel and thank you for all the hard work you did on this blog.

Rob - Thanks for providing a place for professionals and up-and-comers to be displayed side by side. I've come across so many fantastic artists via this groundbreaking blog, and I'm proud to have had my work posted on it.

On the book idea: I'd love to do a book, but there's all kinds of copyright issues with something like that. I think it would take somebody at DC or Marvel wanting to do it with their own comics or maybe a publisher doing only comics that are in the public domain. I suppose one could get permission from small press people that wouldn't be so uptight about such things. It would make a nice art book, that's for sure. Someone can e-mail me if they have the power to make that happen.

The comic Anthony is talking about is Scary Tales 11 by Steve Ditko. It's so delightfully weird that I thought about doing my own version of it, but realized that it's the Ditkoness that makes it work so much. Actually, looking back at it again, I kind of wish I gave it a shot. Another one I wanted to do was the tijuana bible, "The Adventures of the Fuller Brush Man in Easy Pickens". Oh well.

I've been thinking about this quite a bit today (saw the RIP last nite) and have to say that it was this blog that set me on my current artistic path. For years I was struggling to find a style and content that worked for me - my love affair with alternative/art comics in the 90's was at odds with a reemerging interest in Big Two costumed heroes and I was fighting to keep that greezy chocolate out of my artsy fartsy peanut butter. Covered let me know that it was okay to mix the two and I've been the better for it.

I've met a few current friends and associates through this site and it has brought me some great exposure as well. Hell, it even helped pay the bills when I was out of work last year when I was selling my originals. It's been a great trip and you should be incredibly proud, Robert.

Thank you so much for all your hard work and inspiration. I can't wait to see what you have in store with your comics.

This is sad news indeed. This is and always will be one of my favorite blogs. Robert, thanks for the labor of love that went into this awesome site. Thanks for posting my art. This blog was very inspirational for me. It will be missed.

Thank you Robert for this fantastic piece of work that you painstakingly put together over the years. This blog has been an inspiration to me as well as an introduction to some good friends and excellent work. Thanks for having my work and I'll be looking forward to your work in the future.

Oh man, this has become one of my favorite sites! I don't think I've missed a day since I discovered it and spent a lot of time in the archives as well. I will miss it a great deal! Thank you for all those terrific covers! Your comic work is very good from what I've seen... best of luck with your graphic novel. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for your work in the future.

Thanks so much for putting this blog together Robert! It's been incredible. If it weren't for you or this blog I would never have gotten to discover and connect with half of the artists I talk to these days. Being able to submit work to this blog even helped me to land some very important freelance gigs early on in my career. Thanks again Robert, I'm sad to see it go!!!

ROBERT! I am sorry to see the end of this blog, But I would like to thank you for allowing me to take part. You created a very fun site that was a regular place to come and enjoy the arts herein. May you have great success in your future ventures! Kudos to everybody who contributed to this fine site!

Sad to see it go, Robert. Thank you for hosting a great blog. I'm proud to count myself as a contributor, if but only once, and regret not finding more time to submit more material. Best of luck in your endeavors.

Aw, durn. I used to check Covered every day, but then a combo of busy work schedule and political buffoonery took over, but I would check back every few weeks to catch up. Thank you so very much for spearheading this blog, Robert. It introduced me to you and many other artists. The reinterpretations of classic and obscure covers were always different from those who submitted and it was very exciting/fun/fascinating to see what could be done with cover templates by these dedicated art fans.I'mhappy you'll be keeping the site up. Too many quality comics sites have been shuttered when the blog owner decided to end their involvement.Best of luck on your current and future work!

Just read the announcement, and I wish you the best of luck, Robert! Thank you so much for posting so much amazing artwork, as well as posting some of my own from time to time! A brilliant exercise in creativity and inspiration...take a bow, my friend!

Aw, disappointed to hear this. Covered is one of my favourite blogs - funny, entertaining, weird and gruesome, always something new to boggle the mind. It's where I discovered a huge number of the artists who's work I now follow, and really what got me on board with following artists and their blogs in general.

Congratulations to you Rob, for curating such an incredible showcase. Best of luck for the future!

Thank you for all the covers! Sad to see you go, but it's always better to go out with a bang than a whimper, so rest now when you still have fond feelings for what you've created. You did an amazing job!

Well, these are bittersweet news. On one hand, my favourite blog of all time is shutting down, but on the other hand the guy responsible for it is pursuing new artistic endeavours! So allow me to be happy for you instead of sad, and let me thank you for letting me be part of this site too!

Robert, Thanks for all the hard work! Like you said, this was a labor of love and it showed. Ever since stumbling across this blog its been one of my absolute favorites! I was honored to be featured. Like others here I had lofty plans of submitting many more but never found the time. I even have a few covers that are "nearly done" but because so many other people put so much work into theirs I didn't feel mine were ready yet. I tried to be as active as my schedule permitted.You did something really valiant here. You created a community. You planted roots that have grown into so many other blogs like ohotmu redux. Good luck with your book. I'm looking forward to checking it out.

Dang this is one of those sites I visited in the past, knew about and was always hoping to create something for it. Oh well I will do it on my own site for the fun of it. Thanks for all this and cheers!